Joint seal for shower surround

ABSTRACT

A shower surround is formed of a plurality of pieces, with a joint between adjacent ones of the pieces. A tape is placed on an inner side of the surround along the joint. The tape provides a seal against moisture. The tape may be heat-sealed to the joint.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This application relates to the use of sealing tape at a joint in a shower surround of the type wherein a plurality of pieces come together to form the surround. The tape provides a seal along an edge between the plurality of pieces.

Tub or shower surrounds are utilized in modem bathroom environments to provide a low cost way of providing an aesthetically attractive surface. Typically, the surrounds are formed of molded plastic sheets, which are mounted about a tub or shower in a plurality of pieces. If the entire surround were formed of a single piece, the piece would be quite large, ungainly, and difficult to transport. Thus, surrounds are typically formed of several pieces that are brought into a site and mounted around a tub or shower. The pieces are then attached to a wall, and an edge between the pieces must be sealed in some manner. The prior art has had difficulty easily providing an adequate seal at the edge joint.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A tape is placed over the edge joint once installation is complete. Preferably, the tape is over the “finished side” or the side of the surround facing inwardly towards the shower. The tape may be clear, or may be colored to match the underlying pieces of the surround.

In one specific feature, the tape can be heated, such as with a heating gun to seal the tape and complete a bond.

These and other features of the present invention can be best understood from the following specification and drawings, the following of which is a brief description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a surround prior to application of the inventive tape.

FIG. 2 shows the application of the inventive tape.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view through a portion of the FIG. 2 embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

A tub/shower surround 10 is illustrated in FIG. 1. As is known, a plurality of pieces 12 and 14 come together to form the surround. As shown, an edge joint 16 is formed between adjacent pieces. While there is typically overlap at the joint, there still is a concern with adequately sealing the joint 16.

Thus, as shown in FIG. 2, a tape 18 is placed along the edge joint to seal the joint. The tape may be any suitable tape that is water resistant, and which will seal securely to the underlying material of the surround (typically a plastic) and provide a long-life seal.

In one embodiment, a heating gun such as a hair dryer 20 is used to heat the tape 80 and complete a bond to seal the tape to the underlying surround pieces 12 and 14.

The tape 18 may be clear, or may be formed to have a color that matches or accents the underlying color of the surround pieces 12 and 14.

As shown in FIG. 3, the tape 18 is formed outwardly of the joint 16.

In assembling the surround 10, the pieces are initially mounted as shown in FIG. 1. The tape 18 is then placed over the edge 16.

Although a preferred embodiment of this invention has been disclosed, a worker of ordinary skill in this art would recognize that certain modifications would come within the scope of this invention. For that reason, the following claims should be studied to determine the true scope and content of this invention. 

1. A surround for a shower comprising: a plurality of pieces that come together to form walls to surround a shower environment, said plurality of pieces meeting at a joint; and a tape placed at said joint on a surface facing into the shower environment.
 2. The surround as set forth in claim 1, wherein said tape is clear.
 3. The surround as set forth in claim 1, wherein said tape has a color to match the color of the plurality of pieces.
 4. The surround as set forth in claim 1, wherein said tape is heat-sealed to said joint after application of said tape to said joint.
 5. A method of forming a shower surround comprising the steps of:
 1. providing a plurality of wall pieces to be placed together to form walls around a shower environment;
 2. placing said wall pieces onto underlying walls to form walls surrounding a shower environment, said pieces being placed such that there is a joint between adjacent ones of said pieces; and
 3. placing tape over said joint, said tape being on a side of said joint facing into the shower environment.
 6. The method as set forth in claim 5, wherein said tape is heat-sealed to said joint after application. 